106 THE REASON WHY: 



" Proteus, thy song to heare, 

 Seas list'ning stand, and windes to whistle fear ; 

 The lively dolphins dance, and bristly scales give eare." FLETCHEH. 



326. Why are seals found in greatest numbers in estuaritt 

 and straits ? 



Because the fishes upon which they feed are dispersed in the 

 open sea, but congregate in greater numbers in the currents of 

 narrow places. 



327. In some districts seals are very numerous. In the Caspian Sea, for instance, 

 and in the Isle of Juan Fernandez. " Here," says Captain Dampier, " are always 

 thousands, I might say possibly millions of them, either sitting on the crags, or 

 going and coming with the sea round the island, which is covered with them (as 

 they lie at the top of the water playing and sunning themselves) for a mile or two 

 from the shore. They produce in the autumn two young ones, which for some 

 time are white and woolly, and are suckled for six or seven weeks, after which they 

 take to the sea ; and whcu the dams come out of the sea they bleat like sheep for 

 their young, and though they pass through hundreds before they reach their own, 

 will not permit any of them to suck." 



328. WTiy do Greenland seal-hunters place themselves by holes 

 in the ice ? 



Because the seals being obliged to breathe air make for 

 themselves holes in the ice, that they may rise for this purpose. 

 The hunter, therefore, knows when he sees a hole that seals are 

 about, and that some of them must soon come up to breathe. 



329. Another stratagem employed in the capture of seals is as follows : In the Gulf 

 of Bothnia, when spring is approaching, and the ice is forced from the shores by 

 the rivers emptying themselves into the sea, the seals are often found upon the 

 larger masses ; and in order to obtain them, the hunters set off in a boat. Having 

 taken the precaution to whiten the boat with lime, and put on white dresses to 

 render themselves less suspected, they go in search of their prey, and continue 

 rowing about from one block of ice to another, destroying many seals. 



330. Why are the nostrils of seals surrounded with long bristly 



These hairs, or whiskers, are instruments of touch, and serve a 

 similar purpose to the seal in its submarine excursions, as do those 

 of lions, tigers, and cats, in forests and jungles. No doubt these 

 instruments are exceedingly useful in exploring the crevices and 

 irregular surfaces of icebergs, beneath the water, where fishes 

 sometimes take shelter and conceal ^ernselves. 



